(Some Of) The Big Stuff:
SOE Turns Independent, Eyes Xbox Support: The biggest news this week came on Monday, when Sony Online Entertainment, makers of franchises such as H1Z1, Planetside, and EverQuest, announced that it had been acquired by an investment firm for an undisclosed sum. What does that mean? For one, SOE has changed its name to Daybreak Games. Second, the company can now bring its games to Xbox platforms. Nice!
Legend of Zelda TV Show In The Works At Netflix: While it remains officially unconfirmed, The Wall Street Journal on Friday reported that Netflix and Nintendo have entered production on a live-action Zelda TV show. Its aim is to be “Game of Thrones for a family audience.” That sounds really cool. What do you think?
Call of Duty 2015 Confirmed, Coming From Black Ops Dev Treyarch: It may have been pretty obvious, but Activision made it official this week: Call of Duty: Black Ops developer Treyarch, which also created the uber-popular Zombies mode, is making 2015’s Call of Duty game. The title is due out this fall. Expect to hear more about it this May.
Destiny House of Wolves DLC Release Window Revealed: Destiny’s second expansion, House of Wolves, will launch sometime in the April-June quarter, Activision announced this week. Plus, the company teased that Bungie will launch a “major content release” for Destiny in fall 2015. What could it be? Activision isn’t saying just yet, unfortunately.
The Other Stuff (Stories We Like, But Didn’t Cover With a Standalone Post):
Another “React” gaming video came online this week, this one showing teenagers playing The Last of Us. I’m still not tired of watching these videos, are you?
This might be the closest thing we ever get to Portal 3. This amazing-looking fan-made Portal 2 mod has been in development for more than three years, and it shows. Check out a trailer and more information about the game on Steam, where it’s schedule to arrive March 31.
Sega is starting to tease the next Sonic game. This week, the publisher revealed a teaser trailer for Sonic Runners, a free-to-play mobile game launching this spring for iOS and Android. Like its name suggests, Sonic Runners is a 2D side-scrolling runner. Read more about it here.
Last year’s pretty-excellent licensed role-playing game South Park: The Stick of Truth could get DLC someday…but it also might not. That’s what developer Obsidian Entertainment CEO Feargus Urquhart told Polygon this week. Also in the interview, Urquhart talks about the game’s multi-year, stressful development process, and whether or not there might be a sequel. Read the full story here.
As a result of GameSpy’s closure, the PlayStation 3 version of the original Borderlands lost its online support. But now, thanks to a newly released update, the game’s multiplayer functionality has been restored. Huzzah! Check out this Gearbox post for more.
Everyone likes making GIFs, but it’s not always so easy. Thankfully, the folks behind Xbox fansite XboxDVR have introduced GIF-making functionality to their site. Hurray!
Indie developer Hammerfall Publishing has announced a Collector’s Edition bundle and a brand new trailer for the upcoming game, Warhammer 40,000: Regicide. Watch the trailer below. The Collector’s Edition, meanwhile, comes with nice-looking art prints depicting characters from the game, as well as limited edition apparel designed by the Warhammer artists Stefan Kopinski. Buy yours today at the game’s website.
Ubisoft’s arcade hack-and-slash game The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot has left beta, and is now officially available for PC, following its original console release in 2014. Download the free-to-play game today on Steam right here.
Stuck inside this winter from all the snow and looking to play something new on your Nintendo machine? You’re in luck, as Ubisoft has rolled out a massive Wii U and 3DS sale, offering dozens of game at deep discounts. See the full list here.
Ubisoft this week released its “experimental climbing game” Grow Home on PC through Steam. You can buy the game today for $8. Grow Home, a strange game that employs a minimalist artistic style, sees players taking on the role of BUD–Botanical Utility Droid. He’s an excitable, child-like robot who is sent on a mission to search the galaxy for a new species of plant that can oxygenate his home world, saving its people, and making him the hero.
Wildstar news! NCSoft and Carbine Studios have released the fourth content update for Wildstar, the PC MMO. Called The Protogames Initiative, the update introduces a swath of new content, including a new Shiphand mission and two new dungeons. There’s also new quality-of-life improvements ranging from quest flow to itemization. See here for more.
As if Hideo Kojima’s P.T. wasn’t scary enough already….check out the video above to see P.T. like you’ve never seen it before–like a Blair Witch Project-esque found footage movie.
Following its release for PlayStation 4, indie developer Roll7 announced this week that its “grind-’em-up” skateboarding game OlliOlli is coming to Xbox One, Wii U, and 3DS in March.
It’s rare developers give fans (or the media) an inside look at how their finances break down, but that’s exactly what Young Horses did this week for its latest game, Octodad. As you can see in the image here, Octodad made $5 million in revenue after 28,000 man-hours of development; developers also took four trips to the emergency room during the game’s nearly three years of development, though it’s not explained why.
New DLC is now available for professional wrestling game WWE 2K15 in the form of the “Showcase DLC” for all platforms. The add-on highlights the rivalry between fighters Christian and Randy Orton in 2011. Get it today for $10 or through the game’s DLC Pass.
Blizzard isn’t making Warcraft 4, but now you can…sort of. The developer this week released all sorts of Warcraft III assets for you to work with, including hero models for the game’s four main races. Go ahead, make Warcraft 4, and maybe Blizzard will follow suit. Who knows.
Big news for fans of funny downloadable game Soda Drinker Pro this week, as its developer announced a long list of features (see below) to be included with the latest update on Steam. In addition, the studio said it remains in “heavy development” of the Xbox One version, while it also has a major “thirst-quenching” announcement to make soon. What do you think it will be?
- Game Save Options
- New Soda Simulations
- Entirely new Vivian Clark world now 10 times bigger than all of Soda Drinker Pro (see footage here and here)
- Achievements (360 no-scope Soda slurps and many more)
- Soda Customization and Crafting
- Steam Exclusive levels
- Optimized game exit settings (when you press the escape key it asks you if you want to close the game before it closes)
- People who purchased the original version of Soda Drinker Pro will receive Steam keys for free when it is released
- Oculus DK1 support & DK2 support coming soon
- Spaghetti Mode
- Special guests
- Much more!
Smosh Games has released their latest Honest Game Trailer, this one taking on Blizzard’s immensely popular free-to-play card game HearthStone: Heroes of Warcraft.
What is the secret of this mystery phone number? It was revealed on Monday by Hotline Miami 2 developer Dennaton, and calling the number puts you though to a garbled message, with the only recognizable word being “March.” Is this the release date? Give it a call and hear for yourself.
Did you ever play Badland? You should, it’s a beautiful and clever puzzle-adventurey thing that won iPad game of the year in 2013. Well, in a few months that game will ship on PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Wii U, Vita, PC, Mac and Linux! What’s more, the game will also come with a visual upgrade (not that it needed it!)
Everything is awesome, at least it is in this epic Lego Skyrim video from The Guildmaster Studio. Check out the video above. What do you think…time for a real Lego Skyrim?
Have a great weekend!